Bar’chu
et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH
Eloheinu
melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu eht Torah-to.
Baruch
atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the
blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the
Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us
your Torah.
Gen 32:3 And Yaʽaqoḇ sent messengers
before him to Ěsaw his brother in the land of Sĕʽir, the field of Eḏom
New parashah – “va yishlach” - “and he sent”
Yasher 32 – (Background
information)
7 And those messengers went to Esav, and found him
on the borders of the land of Edom going toward Yaqov, and four hundred men of
the children of Seir the Horite were standing with drawn swords.
8 And the messengers of Yaqov told Esav all the
words that Yaqov had spoken to them concerning Esav.
9 And Esav answered them with pride and contempt,
and said unto them, Surely I have heard and truly it has been told unto me what
Yaqov has done to Laban, who exalted him in his house and gave him his
daughters for wives, and he begat sons and daughters, and abundantly increased
in wealth and riches in Laban's house through his means.
10 And when he saw that his wealth was abundant and
his riches great, he fled with all belonging to him, from Laban's house, and he
led Laban's daughters away from the face of their father, as captives taken by
the sword without telling him of it.
11 And not only to Laban has Yaqov done thus but
also unto me has he done so and has twice supplanted me, and shall I be silent?
12 Now therefore I have this day come with my camps
to meet him, and I will do unto him according to the desire of my heart.
13 And the messengers returned and came to Yaqov
and said unto him, we came to thy brother, to Esav, and we told him all thy
words, and thus has he answered us, and behold he cometh to meet thee with four
hundred men.
14 Now then know and see what thou shalt do and
pray before YHVH to deliver thee from him.
15 And when he heard the words of his brother which
he had spoken to the messengers of Yaqov, Yaqov was greatly afraid, and he was
distressed.
We
learn from this Torah portion that the spirit of Esav will always attempt to
destroy or undermine the flock of Yakov (Yisrael) who hear the call (Vayikra)
to return to the land of Yisrael. This
is evident today in Yisrael and it is also evident in the R’’eplacement
Theology’’ taught by many churches. In the last days this will intensify more
than any other time in history. From our haftarah portion we see that one day
this Esav spirit will be destroyed.
Oba 1:8 “In that day,” declares יהוה, “I shall
destroy the wise men from Eḏom, and discernment from the mountains of Ěsaw!
Oba 1:9 “And your
mighty men shall be discouraged, O Tĕman, (near Petra) so that everyone from
the mountains of Ěsaw is cut off by slaughter.
Oba 1:10 “Because
of your violence against your brother Yaʽaqoḇ, let
shame cover you. And you shall be cut off forever.
The prophet Yeshayahu
speaks of a small remnant that shall return to the land of Yisrael.
Isa 10:20 And in that day it shall be that the remnant
of Yisra’ĕl, and those who have escaped of the house of Yaʽaqoḇ, never again lean
upon him who defeated them, but shall lean upon יהוה, the Set-apart
One of Yisra’ĕl, in truth.
Isa 10:21 A
remnant shall return, the remnant of Yaʽaqoḇ, to
the Mighty Ěl.
Isa 10:22 For
though your people, O Yisra’ĕl, be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of
them shall return – a decisive end, overflowing with righteousness.
Isa 10:23 For the
Master יהוה of hosts is making a complete end, as
decided, in the midst of all the earth.
The prophet Yezekel also prophecies of an end time
remnant.
Eze 20:34 “And I shall bring you out from the peoples
and gather you out of the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand,
and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.
Eze 20:35 “And I shall bring you
into the wilderness of the peoples, and shall enter into judgment with you face
to face there.
Eze 20:36 “As I entered into judgment with your fathers
in the wilderness of the land of Mitsrayim, so I shall enter into judgment with
you,” declares the Master יהוה.
Eze 20:37 “And I
shall make you pass under the rod, and shall bring you into the bond of the
covenant,
Eze 20:38 and
purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me. From the
land where they sojourn I bring them out, but they shall not come into the land
of Yisra’ĕl. And you shall know that I am יהוה.
Gen 32:4 and he commanded them,
saying, “Say this to my master Ěsaw, ‘Your servant Yaʽaqoḇ said this, “I have
sojourned with Laḇan and stayed there until now.
Gen 32:5 “And I have bulls, and
donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. And I have sent to inform my
master, to find favour in your eyes.” ’ ”
Gen 32:6
So the messengers returned to Yaʽaqoḇ, saying, “We came to your brother
Ěsaw, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him.”
Gen 32:7 And Yaʽaqoḇ was greatly
afraid and distressed. (Heb – ‘’yetzer Jer 30:7)So he divided the people that
were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups, (maybe
this is connected with the distress that will come upon the two houses of
Yisrael in the last days-Jer 30:7 Oh! For great is that day,
there is none like it. And it is the time of Ya‛aqoḇ’s distress, but he shall
be saved out of it.)
Gen 32:8 and he said, “If Ěsaw
comes to the one group and attacks it, then the other group which is left shall
escape.”
Gen 32:9 And Yaʽaqoḇ said, “O
Elohim of my father Aḇraham and Elohim of my father Yitsḥaq, יהוה who said
to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives, and I do good to you,’
Gen 32:10 “I
do not deserve the least of all the kind acts and all the truth which You have
shown Your servant, for I passed over this Yardĕn with my staff, and now I have
become two groups. (see Ber 32:2 - Mahanaim = “two camps”)
Yakov makes a clear assessment of himself – lit. “I am
smaller than all the loving truth that you have done with your servant”
Gen 32:11 “Deliver
me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Ěsaw, for I fear him,
lest he come and shall smite me and the mother with the children.
Gen 32:12 “For You
said, ‘I shall certainly do good to you, and shall make your seed as the sand
of the sea, which are too numerous to count.’ ”
Gen 32:13 And he
spent the night there, and took what came to his hand as a present for Ěsaw his
brother –
Gen 32:14 two
hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
Gen 32:15 thirty
milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys
and ten foals.
Gen 32:16 And he
gave into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his
servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between drove and drove.”
Gen 32:17 And he
commanded the first one, saying, “When Ěsaw my brother meets you and asks you,
saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? And whose are these in
front of you?’
Gen 32:18 then you
shall say, ‘They are your servant Yaʽaqoḇ’s. It
is a present sent to my master Ěsaw. And see, he also is behind us.’ ”
Gen 32:19 So he
commanded the second, and the third, and all who followed the droves, saying,
“Speak to Ěsaw this same word when you find him,
Gen 32:20 and you
shall say, ‘Also look, your servant Yaʽaqoḇ is
behind us.’ ” For he said, “Let me appease him with the present that goes
before me, and after that see his face. He might accept me.”
Gen 32:21 And the
present passed over before him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
Gen 32:22 And he rose up that night and took his two
wives, and his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the
ford of Yabboq.
Gen 32:23 And he took them and sent them over the
stream, and sent over what he had.
Gen 32:24 And Yaʽaqoḇ was left alone. And a Man
wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
For the
Hebrews wrestling with YHVH is part of the Hebrew way of life. Rather than
accepting the unexplainable without question, the long -standing tradition of
the sages is summed up in the term “pilpul” which roughly translated means
discussion or debate. As seekers after
the truth we struggle with the issues of life and the teachings of the Torah,
attempting to know their true strength, and in a sense, to know whether they
can be overcome by argument. This is because we define the faith as a
revelation of the knowledge of YHVH and His Messiah and not some blind
uninformed “leap of faith” into the dark. Faith, from a Hebraic perspective, is
the revelation of YHVH and acting on this revelation given by the Ruach(Spirit)
of YHVH. Far from the Greek concept of faith as mental agreement alone. True
Hebraic faith never negates personal responsibility. The idea that one can
pray, believe, and then remain inactive to see what YHVH will do is foreign to
Scriptural faith.
“Yabboq” (S2999) means a place where you are emptied –
comes from a root word which means to be “undone” This same root word is used
in the following two scriptures:
Nah 2:2 For יהוה shall turn
back the splendour of Yaʽaqoḇ like the splendour of Yisra’ĕl, for the emptiers have
emptied them out and ruined their vine branches.
Isa 24:3 the earth is completely emptied and utterly
plundered, for יהוה has spoken this word.
Isa 24:4 The earth
shall mourn and wither, the world shall languish and wither, the haughty people
of the earth shall languish.
Isa 24:5 For the
earth has been defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed
the Torot1, changed2 the law, broken the everlasting
covenant3. Footnotes: 1Torot - plural of Torah, teaching.
2Jer. 23:36. 3This is the only reason, according to all
Scriptures, why the earth shall be burned in the day of judgment – see also
13:9, 13:11, 26:21, 66:24, Mic. 5:15, Zeph. 1:2-18.
Isa 24:6 Therefore
a curse shall consume the earth, and those who dwell in it be punished. Therefore
the inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and few men shall be left.
Gen 32:25 And when
He saw that He did not overcome him, He touched the socket of his hip. And the
socket of Yaʽaqoḇ’s hip was dislocated as He wrestled with him.
Gen 32:26 And He
said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I am not letting You go
until You have blessed me!”
Gen 32:27 So He
asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Yaʽaqoḇ.”
Gen 32:28 And He
said, “Your name is no longer called Yaʽaqoḇ, but Yisra’ĕl1, because you have striven with
Elohim and with men, and have overcome.” Footnote: 1Yisra’ĕl means
“to strive with Ěl, to overcome with Ěl, (then) to rule with Ěl”